Page 28 of Eye of the Hurricane (Weathering Doves Harbor #2)

Ares

“Don’t kill me,” Audra says the second I walk in the door for family dinner.

Not exactly something you want to hear from one of your best friends as soon as you walk in.

“What did you do?” I ask, pointing a finger in her direction. Just behind her, Ravyn is standing there looking guilty too. “What did both of you do?” I groan.

Audra offers a sheepish smile. Ravyn is wearing a smile that has me breaking a sweat. What in the fuck did these two knuckleheads do? .

“We might have invited the girls to family dinner,” Audra says, wincing.

“What girls?” I ask.

It’s a dumb question. I know what girls. I know it’s Katherine and Luna. But since we hunkered down together for the hurricane, it’s been radio silence.

“Your girl and her best friend, dumbass,” Roman cuts in from the kitchen. I stick my middle finger in the air for him .

“Not my girl. And it’s fine because she’s not speaking to me, so there’s no way she’ll show up anyway.”

Ravyn gives me a look letting me know that’s not the case.

“They… Well, they’re on the way,” Audra cuts in.

I groan.

“Perfect. And what gave you this marvelous idea?”

Roman’s head snaps around in my direction. “You must be talking to Ravyn, I know you’re not taking that tone with my girlfriend,” he says, pointing the knife he’s using to cut up cucumbers at me. I roll my eyes.

“She was my best friend before she was your girlfriend.”

“Don’t care. Watch your mouth.”

The little brother in me wants to argue with him. But the best friend in me is glad Audra has someone who will defend her so fiercely. Especially after everything she’s been through.

“I assumed since you guys had spent the night together the night of the hurricane that you had talked and were no longer practicing distance.”

“Well we’ve got more distance now than we did before. We haven’t talked since I left her house the next day,” I tell them.

“Maybe you’re bad in bed,” Ravyn suggests.

“How do you know we were in bed? And why do you two insist on gossiping?” I ask.

“Katherine told Luna and Luna told us,” Audra explains.

“And she said I was bad in bed? I find that hard to believe after the night we had.”

“First of all, ew. Second of all, no, she didn’t say that. I’m fucking with you,” Ravyn says, scrunching her nose in disgust.

“She kind of said the opposite,” Audra says with a giggle.

Okay, now I’m intrigued .

“Okay, spill. What did she say?” I demand.

“Oh, look who wants to gossip now,” Ravyn jokes. I ignore her, turning my attention to Audra. She’s the one who will tell me what they know.

“I can’t say too much. Girl code, you know? But she said it was really amazing…” she trails off, debating if she should keep going.

Me being the selfish fuck I am, I hope she does.

“And that she has a lot of feelings afterward and she panicked and that’s why she hasn’t talked to you,” she rushes out.

“AUDRA!” Ravyn scolds.

“Sorry! Have you seen how sad he’s been? I couldn’t keep it in anymore,” she huffs.

I wonder how long she’s been sitting on this. I don’t ask, though. I’m just grateful to her for telling me what she did.

“She doesn’t hate me then?” I ask. It sounds a little pathetic but I don’t know that I care.

Both of their faces soften.

“No, I think that’s the opposite of the issue at hand, she’s just scared.”

“Audra!” Ravyn exclaims.

“Okay, okay. I’m done,” Audra says, throwing her hands up in the air.

The knob of the front door twists and my chest tightens, preparing for it to be Katherine. Instead, Beck and Sebastian push through the doors, laughing at some joke that must have been made outside.

“Ares, Ravyn, your girls are here. Parking the car now,” Beck announces.

“She’s not my girl,” Ravyn and I speak in unison. Where I’m a little hurt, she’s calm .

The night of the hurricane, Katherine told me that Luna said there was nothing going on between her and Ravyn. Normally I’d think she was lying, but they’re both the type to be very upfront. Above that, they’re both the type for a casual hookup.

A few seconds later, the girls walk though the door. I’m mildly aware of Luna being there, but she may as well not be. All of my attention belongs to Katherine.

Her golden hair is curled perfectly to swoop away from her face, framing her features to be perfectly on display. She’s got on more make up than usual, but not an excessive amount. She’s wearing a silky floor length dress with thin straps.

She looks damn good.

Her eyes meet mine and I feel cemented in place. I can’t move or breathe, or look away until she does. And when she does, I feel like I’ve been stripped down to nothing but my socks in front of everyone.

Katherine’s eye snags on the Sea Dragons logo on Sebastian’s hoodie.

“How did I not piece it together when we went camping,” she says, stepping closer to him.

“Hm?”

“You’re Sebastian Riley. I feel so stupid for spending an entire weekend with you and not noticing.” she laughs.

“Ah, yes. That would be me,” he says, with a smile.

“I guess I’m not used to seeing you without all the gear,” she explains.

“Ares told me you’re going for the PR job here in a few weeks?” he asks. Her eyes flick over her shoulder to mine and I pretend not to be looking. But I’ve been caught already, rendering it pointless .

“Yes. I actually just met with the current manager last week. I’m going to start shadowing with Mateo on Monday,” she tells him.

I don’t know if I have the right to feel this way, but it hurts my feelings that this is how I’m finding out. By overhearing a conversation she’s acting like I don’t exist during. I want to kiss her and tell her how fucking proud of her I am, but I can’t.

“Mateo is great. I think you’ll be better, though.”

“Oh, it’s a long shot. I’ll be surprised if I get the position. I just never would’ve forgiven myself I didn’t try. It’s so rare to get a position like this fresh after college.”

“I hear great things regarding your dedication,” he says, eyes landing on me for a portion of a second before bringing his focus back to her.

“Hm? And where would you be hearing that?” she asks, amusement in her voice.

“Oh no, you know what they say about snitches and bitches. I’m a lot of things, but a bitch isn’t one of them,” he says with a laugh. She joins him in laughter.

I take a glance around the room and find everyone in their own rhythm of normal. I’m the only one with my eyes glues to the interaction in front of me.

“Okay, goalie. Keep your secrets,” she says, poking a finger into his chest. It’s harmless, innocent. Platonic, even. Still, I want to pluck my eyes from my head and wash them in the sink.

Call me selfish, but I don’t want to see her touch another man.

“Come eat!” Roman yells out to all of us.

We all head for the kitchen table. Everyone takes their normal seats with the addition of me and Luna .

Dinner is no different from the rest of the last eight days. Katherine doesn’t say a word to me. It’s just glances and a couple of small smiles.

After dinner, I help Audra clear the table. Everyone else wanders out to the back deck where they start up the fire table.

“You should talk to her,” Audra says, handing me a plate to dry off.

“I’d love to. If I knew it was what she wanted,” I tell her. I wipe the plate dry and stick it back into the cupboard.

“Ares,” Audra says pointedly. She’s in the process of handing me another plate but this time, she doesn’t let go, forcing my attention. “Talk to her.”

I don’t quite know what she’s getting at. I do know better than to tell Audra no, though.

“I will when we’re done,” I tell her.

She yanks the dish from my hand.

“Now,” she says sternly.

“Right, okay.”

I step out of the kitchen and onto the deck where everyone else has migrated. The sun is low in the sky and there’s a golden hue cast over everything.

They’re all chattering and laughing. Some standing, some sitting, but all engaged.

I walk up behind Katherine, tapping her arm. “Walk with me?”

Her eyes quickly find mine and she nods. Rather than draw attention by announcing our plan, we just sneak away from the group.

She follows me down the stairs to the pool deck and out to the boardwalk. When we reach the end of it, I hold my arm out for her to brace herself on.

“Lose the heels, we’re walking on the beach,” I tell her. She grabs ahold of me and unbuckles each heel, dropping them onto the sandy wood.

The sand is still warm from the setting sun when I step on to it. We don’t say a word until we’re the other side of the dunes.

“I heard you tell Sebastian you’re going to be shadowing with The Sea Dragons come Monday. I’m really proud of you.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” I state.

She doesn’t bother to deny it. She just apologizes. “I know, I’m sorry.”

“I just want to know why,” I huff. “I spent the last week wondering if I did something wrong, something to upset you. Just for Audra to squeal and tell me I didn’t. Why does she know, Kat?” I ask.

She doesn’t stop walking or look me in the eye. Her face falls with what looks to be guilt.

“I didn’t think you’d mind. You don’t exactly catch me as a guy who’s private about your business. I’ve never had friends to tell my secrets to,” she explains. She misunderstands why my feelings are hurt.

“I don’t care that they know, Kat. You can tell the world what we did. I find myself quite proud of falling into bed with someone as beautiful and driven as you. I want to know why she knew and I didn’t. ”

“I don’t understand how I’m feeling, I don’t expect you to.”

“Try me.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start.” She shrugs.

“From the beginning. We’ll figure the rest out as we go,” I assure her. The bright smile I’ve been missing makes a return to her face. It’s small, but it’s there.

“My first day back to work after camping and being sick, Jacob told me that he had sent me an email letting me know that we would be meeting with the PR manager for The Sea Dragons first thing that morning. An email that I would’ve seen if I hadn’t been so caught up in all of this.

” She motions her hand between us. “But I didn’t see it and I wasn’t prepared,” she explains.

“And that was when you told me you needed space?”

She nods. “Then you showed up, all knight in shining armor to board up my house and help me with sandbags,” she groans, like it’s the worst thing anyone’s ever done.

“Is this about me helping you?” I ask, trying to make sense of it all.

“No. It’s about you being everywhere all of the time,” she exclaims, raising her voice. “Twenty-four years, Ares. twenty-four years I’ve never had a problem with staying focused and on task. Until I met you.”

“I’m not trying to distract you from your goals, Katherine. I know their importance to you. You can’t really think I’d do that,” I counter.

“That’s the problem! You don’t even have to try!” she shouts.

I had been sick for days thinking she must not feel how I feel. That I must have done something to make her hate me. It’s clear as day now, though, that it’s the opposite .

“Keep going,” I instruct.

Kat looks at me like I’ve got a second head attached to my neck.

“I just yelled at you and you’re asking me to keep telling you what’s going on in my head?” She huffs a dry laugh.

“I told you we’d figure it out.” I shrug.

She groans loudly, raking fingers through her hair.

“God, why are you so…” She pinches her eyebrows in an attempt to relieve the tension between them. “Perfect,” she says with a defeated sigh.

“All part of the charm,” I say with a wink. She shoves my arm, teasingly.

“I hate you.”

“Walk me through the rest,” I say, reaching down and interlocking her fingers with mine. She grips my hand tight and we begin walking again, this time back toward the house.

“Then you showed up and sat with me through the storm and we had sex. Like really mind blowing sex. And if that’s not bad enough, you took perfect care of me after. Then did it all again all night.”

“This is why you were feeling overwhelmed that night?” I ask.

“I have all of these feelings and I don’t know what to do with them. They’re new and they’re loud. I have a plan, Ares. One that I’ve never had a problem focusing on. Not until you came along.”

“Then we’ll hit the breaks. But don’t completely shut me out. We were friends before all of this.”

“I just can’t afford to be distracted right now.

It’s crunch time and instead of being more focused than ever, I’m out all night, going camping, and hooking up with you.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never had this much fun in my life,” she says, stopping to face me again, but this time with tears in her eyes.

“But that meeting was a wake up call that fun could cost me everything I’ve ever wanted. ”

I want to tell her she doesn’t have to choose. That people all over the world have their dream careers and lives outside of them. I want to convince her that this isn’t a bad idea. But I can tell she’s made up her mind, and I can’t argue with someone so deeply convinced.

“Okay. We’ll take a step back then. All friends, no benefits. And we’ll only fake it for the wedding. I think we’re well practiced at this point,” I tell her.

The lines of fake and real got blurred and now I feel like I’m leaving my heart out here on the beach.

“I’m really sorry,” she says, wiping the tears from each cheek. “This is just how it has to be.”

I’m not sure if it’s to convince her or me.